Blog Tour: Excerpt of Merry Mary and Guest post from Ashley Farley

Today, in celebration of the release of Ashley Farley's novella Merry Mary, I am happy to share with you an excerpt from the story. Ashley has also been so kind to join in with a guest post talking about her favourite holiday memories.

Excerpt from Merry Mary

“Shh, don’t cry,” she said, rubbing the baby’s tummy.

     What would become of the baby? Scottie didn’t think the Commonwealth had the authority to place the baby up for adoption without permission of next of kin, which meant the baby would be placed in a foster home until the police could track down the father. If the father even wanted the child. If the father even knew he was the father.

     The baby began to wail, presumably with hunger. “Don’t worry, little one.” She picked the baby up and held her tight. “We’ll get it all sorted out. In the meantime, I have plenty of formula and diapers to keep you comfortable.”

     By the time Scottie got the baby inside, and mixed up a bottle from the supplies in her baby cabinet in the kitchen, the little girl was screaming, flailing her arms and legs in hunger. Scottie plopped down on the leather sofa in the adjoining family room, propped her snow boots up on the coffee table, and brought the bottle’s nipple to the baby’s mouth. The infant took the nipple between her lips, then thrust it back out with her tongue. Scottie turned the bottle upside down on her arm, letting a few drops of formula leak from the hole in the nipple, before returning the nipple to the baby’s lips. When she tasted the formula, the baby began to suck greedily.

     “Careful now, baby girl. Don’t drink too fast or you’ll upset your tummy.” The baby stared up at Scottie with bright eyes. “We need to give you a name, don’t we?”

     Scottie had been in the process of picking out names for her baby when her daughter was stillborn at thirty-one weeks. She’d been torn between Kate and Liza, after her grandmothers Katherine and Elizabeth. She ended up calling the baby Angel, which seemed appropriate for an innocent child who never drew her first breath.

     Scottie’s eyes traveled the room, coming to rest on the nativity scene on the mantle above the fireplace. “Why don’t we call you Mary after the Virgin Mary?” She caught sight of the needlepoint pillow Brad had brought down from the attic—a green background with Merry Christmas in curlicue script in red across the front. “Or Merry, which seems appropriate for a spunky little girl like you.”

     The baby stopped sucking and smiled up at her.

     “I agree,” Scottie said. “I like them both as well. Merry Mary it is, then.

Ashley Foley Guest Post

 

Holiday Memories

I have too many wonderful memories of the holidays to single out just one, but I’d like to share a few of them with you from different times of my life.

As a child, every year I anticipated my grandmother’s arrival for Christmas, almost as much as I did Santa Claus. The trunk of her Cadillac was akin to a pirate’s treasure chest. My grandmother was an amazing cook who spent the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas in her kitchen, baking. She brought triple-layered chocolate cakes and cheese biscuits and an assortment of cookies—my favorites were her Butterscotch Chow Mein Noodle cookies and her ultra rich chocolate fudge.

Sharing meals with my family has always been the highlight of my holidays—especially Christmas Eve dinner when anticipation is high, when the adults make merry while the children track Santa on their Santa-tracking apps. When I was young, our family spent hours crowded around the table in our tiny dining room, telling stories and catching up on the events of the previous year. Now, I’m the cook and the dining room is a bit larger, but the time spent together as a family is equally as special.

I’ve enjoyed every phase of my children’s lives, most especially the times we’ve spent together at Christmas. The parades and brunches and visits to Santa. The annual trip to Target to buy gifts for our angel-tree angel. My husband and I got a kick out of playing Santa Claus. We composed elaborate letters from Santa, which we printed on holiday stationary and stuffed in their stockings. My children cherished these letters as much as they did their gifts. 

As my children have grown older—both are in college now—my relationship with them has evolved. I look forward to our time together over the holidays. There are many things I enjoy. Visits with their friends, the constant revolving door of comings and goings. My son’s hunting gear crowding the back stoop. Making peppermint bark with my daughter. The last minute shopping, the joy and frustration of picking the right gifts. Staying up late on Christmas Eve, dancing in the kitchen and opening presents. I’m blessed to have a close relationship with my children, and I plan to enjoy them before I have to share them with their spouses and children. ;-)

I take so many things for granted, but I try to remember that the holidays aren’t necessarily a happy time for everyone. I reach out as much as possible through nonprofits or simply by saying a special prayer for those in need. Those who are homeless, or suffering from illness, or grieving the loss of loved ones. And we can’t forget the men and women in uniform who are stationed overseas, separated from their families during the holidays.

I wish you and your family a blessed holiday season.

I would like to thank Ashley for taking the time to share her memories with us. Reading her post has really made me take the time to reflect on my own memories and traditions. It is interesting to look back and remember how much changes over the years. One thing remains consistent throughout  and that is the focus on family.

I'd love to hear about your traditions and holiday memories as well. Please leave me a message in the comments.

Also check back tomorrow for the book tour and my review of Merry Mary.

Helen Keller in Love by Rosie Sultan

Title: Helen Keller in Love
Author: Rosie Sultan
Narrator: Christine Williams
Published: April 2012
Published By: Blackstone Audiobooks
Format Read: Audio Book
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Historical Romance
Date Read: October 29 2015
Rating: 2.5/5

The story of Helen Keller’s life is widely known. Rendered blind and mute by a childhood illness, Helen with the guidance of her teacher Annie Sullivan would grow up to become an author, lecturer and political activist. 

After doing some research, author Rosie Sultan came across information mentioning that Helen had been engaged at one point during her life, but little was known about the relationship. This information inspired her to write a fictional account of Helen’s engagement to a man named Peter Fagan.

 Readers are taken back to a time when World War I was ravaging Europe, speaking engagements and aid from wealthy friends are the only things keeping Helen and Annie afloat. Then Annie comes down with tuberculosis and reluctantly hires a secretary to assist Helen in her day to day tasks. Unbeknownst to Annie, Helen and her secretary Peter would fall in love, sneaking off to be alone whenever they got a chance. Their love would remain a secret because according to Helen’s family and beliefs of that time period, it wasn’t suitable for a woman with a disability to marry. 

A young Helen and Annie. Image from Biography.com

Why I Chose to Read Helen Keller in Love

I remember writing a report back in elementary school about Helen Keller and finding her story to be very interesting. I knew she lived to be a ripe old age, but most of what I had learned centred around her childhood, like in the Miracle Worker. The iconic image of Helen and her teacher at the water pump sticks out in my mind. I knew that she had never married or had children, so the indication of a relationship peaked my curiosity.

Helen and Annie demonstrating how they communicate. Image from Biography.com

The Pros:

Known for being a strong minded political activist, this World War I setting gave a great backdrop to this love story. Especially due in part to Peter Fagan being an outspoken journalist himself. Despite the seriousness of the time and the threat of contagious disease, the tone of this novel was lighthearted. The devotion Helen and Annie shared for each other was quite touching and I enjoyed listening to their interactions. 

Although Helen Keller in Love is a work of fiction, the author did include many real quotes and tidbits about the woman’s life. These inclusions were among my favourite parts of the novel. Sultan as does a good job of retelling Helen’s biography, which would be helpful for anyone who may not be familiar with her story. Told from her point of view, I would sometimes forget that she was disabled at all. She had such a strong mind, opinions and dreams that it was quite sad she wasn’t able to lead the life she wanted. Her reality was that she could never be fully independent.

The Rest

Here is where my thoughts and final rating become conflicted. Although I did enjoy some parts of this story, the majority left me feeling quite uncomfortable. The reason for this is due to the tone it was narrated in and the way the subject manner was approached. 

The narrator for this book is Christine Williams, who has a great voice for audio, but a style I wasn’t excepting going into this story. The way in which it was read gave off more of a contemporary romance type feel, rather than that of a historical fiction. This didn’t make the story sound very believable in my opinion. In fact it came across more much more sensual than I would have ever imagined a book about Helen Keller to be. I am not trying to stay that Helen Keller didn’t have a right to romance or seduction, but I wouldn’t think it would play out quite as it did, especially during that time period. 

As for the love interest Peter Fagan, I did not like him one bit. He was portrayed at a very domineering man, a characteristic I found to be quite off putting in this scenario. Peter was constantly holding Helen’s arms over her head and pulling down her blouse in a way that came across as so inappropriate and uncomfortable. 

Hellen Keller, suffragist and political activist. Image from Biography.com

In summary

Although this story was depicted in such an unexpected manner, there were a couple of qualities I found interesting. All things considered I would describe Rosie Sultan’s Helen in Love to have been quite an ambitious undertaking, which missed its mark.

Monthly Wrap-up: October 2015

Month in Review is a monthly meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

One of my favourite months of the year has come and gone and the holiday season is coming up fast. Unfortunately I didn't get out to enjoy the crisp fall weather as much as I would have liked, thanks to an on and off flu bug that moved into my apartment. I think its safe to say that is has moved out again, thankfully.

This past month may not have been very eventful, but I did have a great reading month. I completed a total of 7 books, which is a good number for me. I read some great books, two of which I rated 5 stars.

Read in October:

1. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Rating: 5/5)
2. Hardy Roses: And Other Stories by Maeve Mullen Ellis (Rating: 3/5)
3. The Imposter (The Bishops Family #1) by Suzanne Woods Fisher (Rating: 5/5)
4. Pane and Suffering by Cheryl Hollon (Rating: 3/5)
5. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (Rating: 4/5)
6. Hellen Keller in Love by Rosie Sultan (Rating: 3/5) REVIEW TO COME
7. Merry Mary by Ashley Farley (Rating: 3.5/5) REVIEW TO COME

The Stats:

Favourite Book of the Month: The Imposter
Favourite Setting: Stony Ridge (The Imposter)
Favourite Character: David (The Imposter)
Longest Book Read: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (458 pages)
Shortest Book Read: Merry Mary (98 pages)
Total Number of Pages Read: 2010
Total Number of Fiction Books Read: 7
Total Number of Non-Fiction Books Read: 0

My TBR for November is a bit ambitious. I have a feeling that this will be a busy month, so some of these will likely carry over to December, but thats just the way she goes, right? As long as I get my required reading done and participate in the Ho-Ho-Ho Read-a-thon, I will be happy.

I hope you all had a wonderful October and a Happy Halloween. What did you read this month? Did read any 5 star worthy books? I'd love to hear from you so leave me a message in the comments.

Ho-Ho-Ho Read-a-thon!

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, so break out the cocoa, the coffee, and cookies! Grab those holiday theme books and bring your holiday spirit. The Ho-Ho-Ho Read a-thon is hosted by Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviews and Jennifer at The BookShelfery. It runs from November 12th-17th.

I have been seeing quite a few posts about this upcoming read a-thon and thought that this would be a great way to get into the Christmas/Holiday spirit. So here is my sign up post. I am looking forward to participating and interacting with everyone.

Now to plan my TBR for this event. I know I have a couple of holiday books on my Kobo, so now would be a great time to make a dent on those. Also it would be nice to check out some books from my local library. An audio book may be a good addition as well. I will post my TBR once I have made my decisions.

Let me know if you are participating in this read a-thon as well, so I can cheer you on.